Fixture

The Six Nations tournament is over for another year and it was therefore back to WRU National League Division 4 East Central league action for Old Penarthians 1^st XV last Saturday in a home fixture against Ynysowen. This will be the first of eight matches that the team has to play before the end of the season that has been extended until Saturday 13^th May.

The result may not have been in favour of the home team but in the 18-15 defeat there were definite signs of improvement in the performance when compared to the previous away defeat to  Llandaff earlier in the month.  It helps of course when nearly the whole squad is available for selection and there are substitutes with experience able to impact the game when introduced.

Coach, Jake Thomas, made the point after the match that the team has ability and is capable of winning games but for the rest of the year there has to be commitment from everyone to training and playing.  This could then act as a springboard for next season which sees Old Penarthians celebrate their centenary.

Playing into a strong wind in the first half Old Pens were determined to run the ball and there was early evidence of determined running from Rhys Lakin and Rhys Morgan in the threequarters.  Josh Mellor, Tom Sidford and Matt Stingl were also prominent with good carries in the forward efforts which saw ball recycled through scrum half Tomos Hillman.

One move in particular saw forwards and backs combining well to produce an overlap for winger Alex Lewis who beat his opposite number, make yards and when tackled keep the ball alive but the supporting player was bundled into touch

It was however Ynysowen who took the lead on 12 minutes through a penalty kick from Kieran Kinsey. Old Pens were not deterred and continued with their adventurous play and when Rowan Allcock made ground and the forwards took the ball into the opposition half a penalty was awarded to the home team that captain Jonathan Crimp converted to level the scores at 3-3.

The wind however continued to play a factor and good kicking from the Ynysowen half backs ensured that they maintained territorial advantage.  From one of those kicks to the corner a lineout was won and despite initial strong defence from Od Penarthians Adam Pyke forced his way over for a try that was converted by Kinsey and a 10-3 lead to the visitors.

From the kick off the ball was knocked-on and Penarthians were awarded a scrum. In previous matches this may not have been an advantage but in this game the Penarthians scrum, featuring a front row of Luke Crockett, James Reynolds and Stingl, was solid throughout and with the added weight of Mellor and Sidford were also seen to push the opposition off their ball.

With half time approaching and Old Pens on the attack after good play by Lakin, Morgan and Reynolds and with what looked like an illegal steal at a ruck Ynysowen broke away.  Cover tackles by Crimp and Allcock saved the immediate threat but a couple of plays later Jack Forrest scored for the visitors to make the interval score 15-3.

At the break Penarthians made some tactical changes bringing on Josh Allcock and Andy Gill to bolster the line out options by taking off Rhys Thomas and Crockett.  Louis Chandler also replaced Joel deClaire.

The changes in the line out soon paid dividends after good touch finders from man-of-the-match Morgan saw three drives by the forwards from successful catches resulting in a series of penalties. From one of these the ball was given to Mellor on the charge and when the ball was won back a pass from Stingl saw Sidford score a try, converted by Crimp to cut the deficit to five points.

Ynysowen were however determined and returned to Penarthians territory and an off the ball tackle led to Jake Thomas receiving a yellow card and Kinsey kicking the resulting penalty to give the visitors a safety margin on the score sheet.

Penarthians were however not done and another series of lineout drives, any one of which could have led to a penalty try, eventually led to Reynolds scoring his first senior try for the club.  With the kick unsuccessful the last 10 minutes left everything to play for with the margin only three points.

Despite all the ensuing efforts however Penarthians could not score the all-important additional try and had to settle for a bonus point in an 18-15 defeat.

Next Saturday Old Penarthians make the short trip to Caerau Ely for their next League fixture. The kick off is scheduled for 2.30pm.